Midnight Letters
by iSoftRain
Summary: A move to Norway, a safe place, a mysterious silver haired figure, and a letter. A letter that contains the names Little Brother, Big Brother, Bigger Brother, and Arthur. And what does this have to do with Vladimir? He is in danger. NO PAIRINGS
1. Chapter 1

The winter night was like any other Vladimir had experienced. Chilly and unfriendly. The splash of twinkling stars glared down at him like a group of ice chips, judging him and his crimes as he walked. He tugged on the scarf around his neck, exhaling a small cloud of air that quickly dissipated in the midnight air. Behind him, the glow of his house slowly disappeared as he walked further and further away. He did not want to deal with his cousins right now, and all the problems they were causing. He did not want to deal with his transfer to Norway. He did not want to deal with anything.

Vladimir's strawberry blond hair lifted and fell as a breeze blew. He was walking to the bridge. A place of peace for him, the bridge was a small road, rarely used, that connected two banks of a river. Especially at this time of night, he did not expect anyone to be there.

How wrong he was. When he arrived to the little bridge, a figure, silhouetted against the midnight sky, everything shadowed but his glowing silver hair, was kneeling by the far end of the bridge.

"Hey!" Shouted Vladimir, almost forgetting in his haste to meet this person to use Norwegian. He started running, but his loud footsteps against the bridge echoed around the area, and he had to slow down for fear of bringing his cousins outside. The figure, upon hearing Vladimir's voice, stood, turned around, and ran. The figure was on solid pavement, and by the time Vladimir got across the bridge, the figure was gone. Vlad sighed, running his hand through his hair. Perhaps he had scared the figure off? His purple-red eyes tended to not make him exactly a social butterfly, though his personality was a friendly type. After this adventure, Vladimir thought, he would have to return home.

Or perhaps not. When Vlad turned, a piece of paper caught his eye. It was left exactly where the other figure had been kneeling. Perhaps it belonged to him? Vladimir picked it up and looked around. The figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe he'll return tomorrow.." Vladimir muttered, tucking the paper in his pocket. "I'll give it back to him then." The Romanian started to walk back to the house, the fifteen minute walk weighing down on his mind, dreading what was to come.

His mother opened the door. "Vlad, honey, where were you?"

He shrugged. "Taking a walk. Is Ivan to bed?" He asked, looking nervously around for his orphaned cousin.

"Yes, and Natalya as well." His mother sighed in relief well hidden. Vladimir looked at his mother in surprise. She was friendly and nice when speaking to the scary Russian and Belorussian children, but now he could see the dark circles beneath her eyes. Unconsciously, he shoved the paper further down into his pocket.

Elena came bouncing into the living room, followed by the younger children's older sister, Katyusha.

"Hi big bro!" Elena squealed, always the energetic one.

Vladimir scooped her up and twirled her around. "Hello Elena!" He said, grinning. The siblings' unusually sharp canines glinted in the dim light of the lamp in the corner of the room. His mother and Katyusha stood by watching.

The oldest Slavic sibling was only sixteen, three years older then Vladimir, and seven years older than Ivan and Natalya, but she acted like a second mother to the other five children. Eventually, when Vladimir put down his little sister, Katyusha picked up the girl.

"Alright, Elena, that's bedtime now. You got to say hi to your brother, now we sleep." Katyusha said.

Vladimir's mother smiled. "You're right, Yekaterina, we should get to bed. Elena and Vlad especially. School is tomorrow, after all." The Romanian woman said, before heading off to her room to sleep. Katyusha followed suit after putting Elena to bed, leaving Vlad all alone.

Obediently, Vladimir trotted off to bed, brushed his teeth, and got into pajamas, but after laying in his bed for a little while, he became too curious about the paper. He had set the paper, slightly crumpled, on his desk, and now it drew him towards it.

Vladimir opened the paper slowly, with caution. After scanning it's contents, he realized it was a letter, written in Norwegian. He painstakingly translated the unfamiliar language, but after a while, he finally could read the whole thing.

_Dear little brother,_

_This may be the last letter I give to you. My previous letter did not quite explain to you the situation I am in. The winds have shifted, my friend, and I am not sure if I can as well._

_Beware of a newcomer. A new person has arrived, and I am unsure if he is like our Arthur. Keep a careful watch on him. He may eventually come to recieve these letters as well. Our correspondence becomes uncertain._

_On the subject of Arthur, is he doing well? I have not had time to check up on him. You know as well as I that is he is not stable. I worry about him._

_Bigger brother is doing fine. He continues to be a nuisance, but I keep him away. He may end up delivering you a letter as well._

_I hope these letters continue to reach you in good health as they do me. I will keep sending them, if you leave the messages of your own. We long to see you again, though I know you only send them at night. Maybe you will come out at day?_

_Sincerely, big brother._

Vladimir read it through twice. None of it made sense. There seemed to be an abundance of unnecessarily complicated Norwegian words. He blinked sleepily at the letter, before setting it down on the desk. He could deal with this tomorrow. The Romanian collapsed into his bed and let sleep claim him.

**A/N Starts Here**

Yay for new stories!

I am looking for a beta reader! If you are up to this, message me, please.

Don't own Hetalia, clearly, otherwise Norway and Liet would get much more screentime, Finland and Norway would have coffee drinking competitions, Liet wouldn't smile, and America would be smarter.

Vladimir - Romania - 13

Elena - Nyotalia Moldova - 5

Ivan - Russia - 9

Natalya - Belarus - 8

Yekaterina (Katyusha) - 16

It might be a bit obvious who Little Brother, Big Brother, and Bigger Brother are. Meh, oh well.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Begins Here**

Before I start this chapter, may I mention that I know exceedingly little about the Norwegian school system, if they even have bus service to and from school, or anything of the sort. I skipped as much as possible, but we'll go with what I have. From what I understand, Vladimir is at the start of his last term of his last year of primary school, and he would not have an elective. I don't even know if they switch classes. If I messed anything up and you know first hand that it is different, can you bring it to my attention so I do not ruin anything? Thank you!

I did realize that the spacing is messed up. That has been fixed.

**Chapter Two**

_Through my haze of sleep I see his face. Arthur's. He frowns, then grins and runs off. I struggle to lift my head, my pen. Everything feels like lead. I'm dying._

_The door opens and soon, Big Brother appears in my vision. He holds a washcloth, dripping with water. He places the cloth on my forehead and speaks. I doubt it's to me, but I strain to hear the muddled words, muffled by the sleeping wind. Oliver's face enter the image. He mouths something I can't hear, then giggles and turns away. Big Brother scolds the young boy. I close my eyes._

**This is a Page Break**

Vladimir blinks open his red eyes. He groans at the sunlight, filtering through his black curtains. _Time to get up,_ He reminds himself. Rubbing at his eyes, the Romanian sits up, throwing the dark blue covers off of himself and then kicking them off of the bed entirely.

"Vladimir! Are you up yet?" Vlad's mom calls from the kitchen. Vlad assumes she was making breakfast for the whole family.

"Da!" He yells back. He stands up, walking to the bathroom and brushing his teeth, then changing into a school uniform. He heads out to the kitchen.

Ivan and Elena are sitting at the breakfast counter, giggling at something Vladimir's sister drew on the back of Vladimir's notebook. He refrains from growling at the two kids, rather sitting next to Elena and peeking over her shoulder. She pulls the notebook away from him, sticking her tongue out at her older brother, who stuck his tongue out right back at her. Ivan giggled again.

Katyusha enters the room, a robe wrapped tightly around herself. She smiles at Elena and Ivan's antics, before sitting down at the table. Vladimir's mother, Mira, smiles at the older teen and placed a plate of pancakes before the other three.

"Yours are still cooking, Yekaterina, dear." Katyusha smiles and nods.

"Thank you, Ms. Illiescu." She said politely. Mira waved it off.

"Of course, dear. Elena, Vladimir, stop that."

Natalya peeks around the corner. "Big brother?" She muttered. Ivan yelps, surprised, and maybe just a bit afraid. He scooted closer to Elena.

Elena beamed brightly at Natalya. "Hi Natty!" She giggled. Natalya nods coolly at her, sitting down across from her older sister, kicking her legs, toes not quite reaching the floor. Vladimir scowls subtly at the girl. Something doesn't feel right to him.

Vladimir sits back from his little sister, grabbing a plate of pancakes and starting to rip them apart. Mira makes a face at her son's wild eating habits, before turning back to the stove. The strawberry blond boy makes quick work of the pancakes and hopped down from the stool.

"I'm gonna go grab my stuff. I'd like to get to school early, make an impression? You know, not be late for once?" Vladimir grins, making an innocent face when Mira sent him a skeptical glance.

"Alright, Vladimir, honey. The bus stop is just down the street." Maria nods in the direction of the bus stop. "It will be arriving in about ten minutes." Vladimir nods and thanks her and retreats to his room.

"Right, then." Despite everyone speaking Norwegian around the house ("To help us learn," Maria had said), Vladimir refuses to speak to himself in anything but Romanian. "Where is my bag?" He mutters under his breath, glancing around the room. In the corner lay his black messenger bag, a circular patch colored like the Romanian flag sewn onto the top pocket. Vladimir snatches it and unzips the top pocket. His phone and charger are deposited inside, followed by his headphones that he manages to scrounge up from one of the boxes he has left to unpack in his closet.

Vladimir throws a glance at the clock. Six minutes until the bus arrives. He slings the bag over one shoulder and heads towards his bedroom door. On his way out, a piece of paper on his desk catches his eye. "Oh.." He breathes. "That thing."

He'd forgotten about school when he'd picked it up, figuring he'd have time the next day to read it before giving it to the mysterious person on the bridge. "Guess not." He muttered angrily. He didn't have time to deal with this. Debating for yet a second longer, Vladimir grabs the paper and shoves it in his pocket.

Vladimir exits the room, runs down the hallway at a near-dead sprint and skids at the end, turning a sharp turn to avoid smacking into Katyusha. "Sorry!" He calls, slowing down to a trot. Katyusha giggles a bit, unsurely. He waves goodbye to Mira and Elena, who Mira had established she was driving to school along with Natalya and Ivan. Finally he is able to leave the house, sliding on his boots, coat, and grabbing his scarf as he exits.

The bus stop is a short, three minute walk, but he runs it, boots sinking into the powdery snow, effectively halving the time it would have taken to get there. A few other people stand there, Norwegians that give him only the tiniest of glances when he waves. Now he has three minutes to wait.

Vladimir pulls the paper out of his pocket, cursing himself silently for crumpling it. It has grown slightly more delicate and he wishes not to ruin it or rip it. He re-reads the cryptic message and once again tries to decipher it. By the time the bus has come, he has resolved to write down what he does know about it.

Finding a seat on the bus is difficult. Most of the people on there are born and raised Scandinavians, with platinum blond hair and blue eyes, to his own darker, strawberry blond hair and red-violet eyes. He has sharper canines, evident in his wild grin, whereas they smile less and have regular teeth. Self-conciously, Vlad runs a hand through his hair, and walks past the eyes that seemed to watch him, even though he knew they were averted, and sat down in an unoccupied seat.

_No, wait._ Someone was watching him, from across the aisle and one seat back. It was another boy, sitting the furthest back of anyone on the bus, and several seats were between him and the others before Vladimir sat down. This boy also didn't quite fit in, with light amethyst eyes and lighter hair, almost silvered hair. He clutched a drawstring bag colored white, with purple strings and an Icelandic flag patch sewn onto the back of it.

_So a foreigner,_ Vlad thinks. _But not quite as foreign as me._ He looks the boy over. He seems to be a bit younger than Vladimir, maybe by a year or two, and he slouches, holding a small stuffed puffin, with a red ribbon tied delicately around it's neck. His clothes are neat, a black long sleeve shirt and dark blue skinny jeans. He wears a brown jacket adorned with many pockets, buttoned halfway up. He looks away when Vladimir meets his eyes.

_Icey,_ Vladimir thinks. _I'll call him Icey._

The rest of the bus ride passes relatively uneventfully, with Vladimir leaning against the window, a piece of paper resting atop his knee and a pencil in hand. Occasionally he jots down something he figures out about the letter. After fifteen minutes, his list is comprised of only a few words:

_-Brothers_

_-Silver hair_

_-Midnight_

_-Kid(?) called Arthur, maybe insane?_

Vladimir returns to staring out the window after adding the final two words. A voice in his ear surprises him. From what he knew of Norwegians, they didn't socialize.

"What's that say?"

It takes him a second to realize what the voice said, but he gathers his wits and is able to speak in Norwegian to reply.

"O-oh, nothing." Vlad turns to see who's talking, and is quite surprised to find that it is Icey.

"If it said nothing, you wouldn't have written anything." Icey's voice sounds very proud and sarcastic, as if he'd found some flaw in Vladimir's reasoning. Vladimir resists the urge to smack his palm to his forehead. Despite all his dealings with Ivan, cheeky kids who aren't related to him just seem to accomplish nothing but grate on his nerves. Even Ivan tests him sometimes. How Katyusha and Mira find that cute is beyond Vlad.

"Yeah, sure, kid." Vladimir grins. "I'm Vladimir, or Vlad. Who're you?"

Icey frowns and turns away. He doesn't seem to want to answer the question. After a few more seconds, he answers. "Emil."

Vladimir starts, having looked away, and turns back. Emil is still facing his window, the puffin leaning against his bag. He's looking down at something, and in his reflection in the window, Vladimir can tell it is a photo of some sort. So when the bus slows to a stop, Vladimir grabs his messenger bag and hops to Emil's seat. The bus driver looks up, but says nothing. Emil seems not to notice.

Vladimir peeks over Emil's shoulder. Pictured on the photograph are three young men, two of which are holding young children. The tallest man is blond with sea blue eyes, partly obscured by thick glasses. His hair is neatly parted, and it appears to be gelled down, giving him a very professional look that is accentuated by the calm way he stands. His face is set in a stern expression, his eyebrows furrowed. His shirt is white, with a blue jacket over it. His pants are black. A pen is tucked behind his ear.

The second tallest man is only a tiny bit shorter than the first, though most of that is because of his wild hair. He has gel-spiked, dirty blond hair that appears rather messy, but with ease, like it was windblown before the picture was taken, with light blue eyes and a grin to rival even Vladimir's. He has a wide mouth and is clothed in a red long sleeve tee. He has a black tie on, but it's crinkled and messy. He wears black skinny jeans, and red converse sneakers. He's rather handsome, Vladimir has to admit. A pen sticks out of his right front pocket.

The second man is holding a child, a young one with light strawberry-platinum hair that looks as if someone ruffled it just before taking the picture. His eyes are brilliant, electric blue in color, though there seems to be a violet hue infused into the eyes. Perhaps a trick of the light? He's grinning brightly, his arms frozen as if he was waving them around and generally causing the second man grief. He wears a pink long sleeve shirt and a blue jacket. He wears long pants, colored white.

The third man is about a head shorter than the other two, and he wears an annoyed expression, accented with dead, dark blue-violet eyes. His light blond hair is slicked back, but some strands appear to be escaping, and the whole setup looks rather soft to touch. A sea blue cap is resting on the left side of his head, and something next to his head is shining like a strand of golden thread. Some hair is pinned back with a silver hairclip in the shape of the now-familiar Nordic Cross. He is wearing a deep blue button down shirt with white pants. A pen is hanging on a silver chain that sits 'round his neck. He seems to be approaching the camera, as if he's exasperated with the person taking the picture.

The third man is also holding a child, one who looks almost exactly the same as the other one. His hair is done in the same "style" as the other's, but it is a dark blond, and his eyes are forest green. He is not smiling, but rather frowning at his twin. He seems to be shrinking away, more into the arms of the man holding him. His shirt is green, and his jacket is white. His pants are black.

Vladimir taps Emil's shoulder, leaning back. "What's that?" He asked, gesturing to the photograph. Emil doesn't jump, much to his credit.

"Better times." The reply is so soft, made in a tiny whisper, that Vladimir almost misses it.

"Better times?" Vladimir peeks over his shoulder again. Emil does not try to stop him. The photograph is dated. "It says it's taken one month ago."

Emil nods silently. Then he folds the photograph and stuffs it into his pocket. "Why're you over here?" He asks, not whispering, but still quietly.

"You looked lonely." Not entirely a lie, but not entirely the truth. Vladimir was also quite curious what the photograph was of, and that's why he jumped over.

"Oh."

For the remainder of the bus ride, Emil makes no attempt to talk to Vladimir, and likewise, Vlad makes no attempt to speak to him. Instead, he pulls out his note paper and jots something else down.

_-New person in the area_

When the bus slows to a stop before the school, Emil stands up, looking at Vladimir expectantly. Vladimir starts and stands up, exiting the seat. Everyone else before them is walking calmly out, talking softly with their friends and whatnot. Vladimir follows suit, minus the "speaking with friends" part, as he couldn't quite do that. He swings his messenger bag over his head, settling it comfortably on his shoulder. Behind him, Emil fixes his drawstring on his back, his puffin now only a slight bulge in the bag.

The bus driver and Emil exchange a few rapid words in a language that sounds similar to Norwegian, and Vladimir feels confident he would be able to translate a bit of it, if it weren't spoken so quickly. But soon Emil nudges Vladimir impatiently, as if he is telling him to get off the bus. Vladimir obliges, stepping off the bus and jogging after the other kids, who have already entered the school.

It's the first day of the second term, and Vladimir feels a bit uncomfortable. He is behind by quite a bit, compared to the other kids. But he heads off to his classroom. He has one teacher this year, which is different then how they did it in America, where he lived previously.

As he is almost to where his classroom should be, he becomes aware of another student walking close behind him. When he turns, there's actually two. Emil is walking with another student, Asian in appearance, with longish dark brown hair that is parted to the right, with the left side of his bangs coming over his left eye. His eyes are deep brown, but emotionless. He wears a red long sleeve shirt with a few chinese characters scrawled in gold across the top. He wears black skinny jeans, and a gold chain is fastened around his neck. When he spots Vladimir, he waves nonchalantly.

"Hey, new kid." He says, with a bit of sass in his tone. Emil shifts uncomfortably.

"Leon, quit that." Emil says softly. His eyes are averted from Vlad's and Leon's.

Leon huffs, but says no more. Vladimir turns back around, and stops before his classroom. Half expecting Leon and Emil to keep walking, he is slightly surprised to see they have also stopped. Vladimir waits for a minute, expecting them to move on.

"..Well? Go in." Leon seems more than a little impatient. Vladimir furrows his eye brows, but then shrugs and enters the classroom. The teacher is not there yet, and only a few kids are in there. Leon gives Vladimir a look. "I'm assuming you speak English? And what is your name?" He said, switching over to aforementioned language.

"Um, yeah." Vladimir replies, also switching to English. Emil looks at them both strangely, with an emotion in his eyes that Vladimir can't read. "I moved here from America, after all. My name's Vladimir."

"This is a class full of transfers. You're a bit behind, but it doesn't matter." Leon gestures to the few people that are in the class. Now that he points it out, Vladimir can tell that none of them seem to be native to Norway. They also appear to be more friendly than the Norwegians Vlad encountered on the bus. "All of us speak English except for Toris, who isn't here yet, Francis, because he says that 'French is much more beautiful than the sheep's language'," Air quotes are made around that sentence. "Herakles, because he never pays attention- he's the one sleeping in the corner, and Emil here."

"Oh. So do Francis, Toris, and Herakles speak Norwegian?" Vladimir asks.

"I know Francis and Toris do. Never spoken to Herakles." Leon replies. He walks over to the front table, the first one past the teacher's desk, Emil following. When Leon takes a seat at the table, his back facing to the blackboard, Emil sits across from him. There are four seats at the table. Leon gestures to one of them. "This one's empty. But it's pretty much the only empty seat in the classroom. Why don't you sit here?"

The way Leon says it suggests that it's not a question, but rather an order. Vladimir sits down in the seat, noting that Leon placed him next to Emil.

"Who sits there?" Vladimir asks, nodding towards the seat across from him. Leon scowls.

"Kiku." He says, practically spitting the word. Emil frowns. He might not have been able to tell what they were saying, but the word did ring a bell to him.

Vladimir nods, like he understands. "Oh."

Leon turns back to Emil, and they begin to converse in Norwegian. Vladimir tunes out their conversation, watching kids walk into the classroom, in pairs or alone. He's watching a pair of kids, one a blond haired, green eyed, feminine looking gender-neutral kid, and one boy with longish light brown hair and green-blue eyes, converse in a language that sounds similar to Ivan's Russian- Polish, perhaps? Vladimir thinks, when he realizes that Leon is trying to get his atention.

"Vladimir. Hey, Vladimir!" Leon waves a hand in front of his face.

"What?" Vladimir says, turning back to the pair.

"You said you moved from America? Where did you live before that? Your name doesn't sound American." Leon's voice still sounds dull and sassy, but it is laced with a hint of curiousity.

"I'm from Romania." Vlad puffs out his chest proudly. "What about you? You look Asian."

"My name's Li Xiao Kaoru Wang, but Emil just calls me Leon. You can call me Li Xiao or Kaoru. Leon's reserved for friends and family. I'm from Hong Kong." Leon- or Kaoru, rather, replies. He doesn't sound nearly as proud as Vladimir does about his home country.

"Oh, Hong Kong, huh? Cool." Vladimir turns back to watching kids enter, and Kaoru returns to speaking with Emil.

The seats of the classroom are mostly filled, except for one or two seats, including the one across from Vlad, when the teacher finally enters. She is speaking with another Asian kid, slightly shorter than Leon himself, and about a foot shorter than the teacher, with blue-black hair in a bowl cut and shaded brown eyes. He wears a white turtleneck with a red circle on his right shoulder and two red Japanese characters next to it. The newcomer sits next to Kaoru, and the Hong Konger makes a face.

"Kon'nichiwa, Leon-kun." The newcomer politely says. Vladimir notes the use of the Japanese honorific, and the name that Kaoru stated is "reserved for family and friends".

"Yeah, yeah, hi, Kiku." Kaoru mutters. He doesn't seem to like this Kiku character, and Vladimir finds it quite amusing. The last person enters the classroom, and it's a girl with long brown hair adorned with an orange flower. She sits down, flipping her flowing hair behind her, a piece of gum in her mouth, and her lips shining with gloss. Vladimir instantly despises her.

The teacher brings everyone's attention to her with a greeting in Norwegian. "Hello everyone, it's so nice to see you again. Glad to see you all survived Christmas break."

A few scattered chuckles here and there. The teacher smiles and writes her name on the blackboard, even though it's quite obvious that everyone (besides Vladimir) knows it. He studies the name. _Frk. Larsen_\- or Miss Larsen. Miss Larsen picks up the role sheet. She starts calling names.

"Sadik Adnan."

A boy in the back of the class, who was busying himself poking Herakles, raises his hand and waves it in the air. "Back here, miss!"

"Gilbert Beilschmidt."

A silver haired boy with bright red eyes and a pearly-toothed grin shouts from where he's sitting next to the gum chewing girl and another brown haired boy at a table towards the front. "Here and awesome!"

"I see that. Francis Bonnefoy."

A blond-haired boy with a rose smiles from where sits across from Gilbert. "Here." He says, turning to face Miss Larsen.

"Antonio Carriedo."

A brown haired boy sitting at the table next to Gilbert's raises his hand. "Here!"

"Hello, Toni. Roderich Edelstien."

The brown haired boy sitting with Gilbert and looking quite annoyed with the silver haired boy's antics raises his hand. "Present, Miss Larsen."

"Elizabeta Hedervary."

Miss gum-chewing jerk waves her hand at Miss Larsen, smiling brightly. "Here!" She says. Vladimir detests her bright, happy voice and Hungarian accent. It grates on his nerves.

"Spit out your gum, please, Eliza." Miss Larsen smiles at the girl, but nods to the trashcan at the front of the room. Vladimir feels a glimmer of smugness at Elizabeta's slightly crestfallen look. However, it disappears as Elizabeta composes herself and walks to the front, spitting out her gum. "Thank you, dear. Kiku Honda."

"Here, Larsen-san." The boy sitting across from Vladimir turns and smiles politely at Miss Larsen.

"Hello, Kiku. I notice you are still using honorifics. There is no need for that here." Miss Larsen says gently to Kiku. He ducks his head.

"Yes, Miss Larsen." He says quietly. Kaoru snickers.

"Polite as always." Miss Larsen reaches forward and pats his back. "Li Xiao, please stop teasing your cousin."

"Yes, Miss Larsen." Kaoru mimics Kiku.

"Thank you. Vladimir Illiescu." The class makes a few surprised sounds at the addition to the roll list they've clearly been memorizing since first grade.

Vladimir grins. "Right here, Miss." He says. Miss Larsen looks down at him and smiles.

"Everyone, this is Vladimir. He's new, so please make him feel welcome. He just moved from America, and he is Romanian in origin. He speaks three languages," Miss Larsen checks a folder on her desk. "English, Romanian, and French. He also clearly speaks a bit of Norwegian."

The class makes a few sounds of greeting. Antionio, Gilbert, and Francis exchange looks. Of everyone, the only person who stays silent during greetings is Elizabeta. He makes a face at her, but she doesn't see it, as she seems to be looking everywhere but him.

"Back to roll. Alfred and Matthew Jones-Williams?"

Two boys sitting at the table next to Vladimir's raise their hands. "Here!" Shouts one of them, an energetic blond with a strong American accent. He answers for both of them, as the other's quiet reply is drowned out in the first's shout.

"Thank you, Alfred. Herakles Karpusi."

The boy in the corner, after smacking Sadik's hand, raises his own. "Here, Miss Larsen." He says, yawning.

"Herakles, what did I say about coffee?" Miss Larsen gives him a patronizing look, but it's one that is taken away from with the bond of two people who have known each other for years.

"To drink it." Herakles's reply is broken with yet another wide yawn.

"Good. Toris Laurinaitis."

A nervous looking boy with brown hair, who'd been conversing with the gender-neutral blond earlier, starts and raises his hand. "Here!"

"Hi, Toris. How are your English studies going?"

Toris laughs nervously. "Not so well."

"Well, don't give up. Feliks Lukasiewicz, even though I can see that you are right there next to Toris."

"Like, here." The blond gives Miss Larsen a thumbs up and flips his- her- it's hair.

Vladimir leans across the table to whisper to Kaoru. "That's a boy?" Vlad asks incredulously.

Kaoru snorts. "Yes, believe it or not."

Miss Larsen sends them a look, before looking back to the list. "Im Yong Soo."

A bright Korean boy throws both hands in the air. "Here!"

"Emil Steilson-Bondevik."

Emil looks up. "Here."

"And how is your English going, Emil?"

"Fine. Big brother hasn't been home, so I haven't had his help." Vladimir starts. Surely that's a coincidence, he thinks. He quickly dismisses the idea from his mind.

"Keep at it, Emil." Miss Larsen smiles, but there's a strange look in her eyes. It's almost sad. "Lovino Vargas."

An angry looking boy with a tomato sewn onto his Italian-flag drawstring looks back from where he is shoving Antonio off of himself. "Here."

"Li Xiao Kaoru Wang."

Kaoru looks up. "Here, Miss. You know that."

"Be polite, Li Xiao." Miss Larsen looks at him sternly. "And finally, Basch Zwingli."

A boy sitting at Sadik's table, with one leg bent and resting on his chair, looks up.

"Here."

"That is everyone then," Miss Larsen says, closing her folder with a snap. She smiles at the class. "Since it is our first day back from Christmas break, why don't we share what we did over Christmas?"

Alfred and Im Yong Soo jump up at the same time. They both shout something, but the overlapping voices make both of their statements blurred and impossible to decipher.

"One at a time!" Miss Larsen says. The boys look at each other. Through a silent agreement, Alfred sits down and Im Yong Soo begins.

"I went to visit my twin in Korea! I only get to see him every three years, 'cause he lives with my dad and I live with my cousins and stuff. He got all nerdy, though, since I saw him last, and he preferred to read than play Call Of Duty: Ghosts, with me." Im frowns as he says the last bit. "But I did get to see him, and that was awesome!" He brightens again.

"I see. I remember you visiting him in year five. You were really excited then, too." Miss Larsen comments. Im nods happily and sits down.

Alfred stands up. "Me and Mattie went home to the States and saw our dad! Then we drove up to Canada and saw Mattie's mom! We spent Christmas in Toronto. I got a new bike!" Alfred exclaims. He seems just as enthusiastic about this as Im Yong Soo did about seeing his twin.

"That's wonderful, Alfred. How about you, Emil? What did you do?" Miss Larsen looks expectantly at the shy boy, who mutters something and looks to the side. "Sorry, can you repeat that?"

"I saw my brothers again." Emil hunches his shoulders. Miss Larsen frowns.

"Emil, we've been over this. Your brothers-" Emil cuts her off.

"They're dead. Yeah yeah, you've said that." He sighs. Miss Larsen tries to smile again, as she changes the subject.

"Vladimir, what did you do over Christmas?" The class, who'd started to speak during Emil's recollection, quieted again in interest and anticipation. Vladimir smiled.

"My mom's brother died and his kids came over to our place, then we moved here on the twenty-sixth." He said, recalling what happened. "Then we spent the rest of the time unpacking in our new place."

Gilbert jumps up. "He lives by me! I saw him get on the bus!"

Vladimir sends him a strange look. "Do you live by a bridge?"

"Yeah! You live across the bridge from me. I saw you last night, at ten o'clock!"

The Romanian shakes his head. "Bro, you are seriously creeping me out." He laughs at Gilbert's offended face, and harder when the silver haired boy started laughing himself. He had a really strange, hissing laugh.

Miss Larsen rolls her eyes. "Settle down, boys." She says after a minute, even though it sounds like she wouldn't mind if they continued. "Everyone get out a piece of paper." She says, and watches as the class scrambles for paper and pencils. "We are going to write about what we did over Christmas break. Do as much of it as possible in Norwegian, and I have English to Norwegian dictionaries for those of you who need. Toris and Herakles, you can use your phones. Francis, I have a French-English book for you, and Emil, you can use Icelandic if need be." The aforementioned students nod their heads. Feliks leans in to Toris and slips him a Polish-English dictionary when Miss Larsen isn't looking.

The classroom is soon filled with the scratching of pencils against paper. Vladimir looks around for a minute before he begins. _I jula, jeg..._

At the end of the class, as Vladimir was leaving, Gilbert runs after the Romanian. He was walking to the area where Mira would pick him, Elena, Ivan, and Natalya up. "Hey, new kid! Vlad!"

Vladimir turns. "Hey, Gilbert. What's up?"

Gilbert stops beside the Romanian, and the two of them continue walking. "I saw you pick something up. What'd you find?"

Elena bounces up to the pair, followed more slowly by Natalya, and finally Ivan. Vladimir greets Elena, and the group continue.

"Oh, that? I found a letter." Vladimir pulls the letter out of his pocket. He resists the urge to ask Gilbert if it belongs to him, instead letting the silver-haired boy read the letter.

"That's kind of interesting. It sounds like how-" Gilbert is cut off by a call from behind the pair.

"Hey! That's mine!"


	3. Chapter 3

Vladimir whips around, instinctively pulling Elena behind him with his left arm. He gropes around with his right arm, reaching for Ivan and Natalya. They aren't there. Vladimir turns to Gilbert, who is staring at six people, not too far away from them, causing a small commotion. One of them has fallen on the ground, and appears to have been the one who yelled.

"Ivan!" Vladimir hisses, recognizing one of the people. He rushes over, Gilbert picking up Elena and following. Vladimir is grateful to the German for helping. The Romanian stops by his cousin, putting a hand on his shoulder. Natalya is standing next to the small Russian, and Vladimir catches sight of a paper crinkled in her hand.

On the floor is Toris, his green eyes locked on the paper in Natalya's hands. Feliks stands next to him, his eyes shining in worry. Two other kids, one about Natalya's age and one Ivan's, stand behind Feliks, staring at Toris.

Elizabeta comes running up, Roderiech and Basch following more slowly. "Laurinaitis! I told you not to get yourself- Oh? Who's this?" Her voice, which is scolding at first, sweetens as she notices Ivan and Natalya.

Vladimir steps in front of them, grabbing Natalya's wrist. "Leaving, that's who." His voice betrays the hostility he feels to the girl. Natalya hisses, but says nothing as Vladimir pries the paper from her hand. "This is yours? Take better care of it." He tosses the crumples ball at Toris, who catches it and shoves it in his pocket. Feliks says nothing, helping Toris up. "And you, Hungarian, can go now. Not that you should have intervened in the first place."

"Excuse me?" Elizabeta steps forward and glares at Vlad.

Vlad lifts his chin. "You heard me."

Toris shifts his weight. "Eliza, maybe you should g-" He is cut of by Elizabeta's snarl.

"And let this, this _Romanian_, order me around? I don't think so."

One of the children standing behind Toris walks over to Eliza. He has blond hair that is combed neatly and glasses. He tugs on Elizabeta's sleeve. "I think Toris is right." He says quietly. "I don't think it's worth a fight. Toris got his paper back and no harm was done."

Eliza's face loosens. She steps back from Vladimir, who resists the urge to stick his tongue out at her, knowing that not only would it be a bad impression on the kids, but it would also probably get him into a fight. One he might lose, too. "Fine." Elizabeta says curtly. She turns on her heel and stalks off.

Toris looks at Vladimir. "Er, thanks." He says awkwardly. "For, you know. My paper."

Vlad doesn't spare the Lithuanian a glance. "Yeah, whatever." He turns.

Toris runs in front of him. "Wait!" He says, planting himself between Vladimir and Gilbert. "Um, you should know. Don't.. Don't sit with Emil anymore. Or Li Xiao, for that matter." He says, looking around. The school is pretty much empty, but Toris seems cautious regardless. "Just, thought I should mention." The brown-haired boy runs after Feliks before giving Vladimir a chance to reply.

_Wierd._ Vlad thinks. He walks up to Gilbert, who is smirking.

"What got you all happy?" Vladimir asks.

"Laurinaitis," Gilbert laughs. "The kid is just such a weakling." Gilbert turns towards the door, Elena trotting after him. Vladimir follows, pushing his misgivings to the back of his mind. Ivan and Natalya walk behind their older cousin, strangely somber.

At the door, Gilbert turns to Vladimir, holding out a piece of paper, which Vladimir takes. "Here's the letter back. And," He hesitates. "I know you might have been told this, but don't hang around Emil or Kaoru." He runs off to his mother's car, where a kid with slicked back blond hair is already climbing in. Turning next to the car, he waves to Elena and grins wildly.

"That was a strange encounter." Vladimir frowns. "Mm, oh well."

Elena giggles from beside him. "He was funny, I like him."

Vladimir smiles at his small sister. "Yeah, he was pretty cool. Look, there's Mom's car!" He points to the familiar car, and Elena charges towards it, shouting in Romanian. Ivan runs after Elena and Natalya follows after a moment's hesitation. Vladimir is about to start after them when something bright catches his eye. He turns to look.

A man stands near the corner of the school, his back turned away from Vladimir. He wears a black coat and white skinny jeans with brown hiking boots. His hands are clasped behind his back, though at this distance Vladimir can just make out the way they are clenched tight as if he is angry. Something golden next to his head catches the light. Vlad recognizes him with a start. It's the man from Emil's photograph.

He moves aside, turning. Vladimir strains his ears, but he can't hear the words he says. Someone behind him raises his voice, and Vladimir can hear that.

"If you didn't leave me alone all the time, maybe I wouldn't need to find friends like him!" It's Emil.

The older man, who Vladimir dubs Stoic, says something. But then he looks up and catches Vladimir's eye. A shiver runs through Vlad, and he feels himself get dizzy. He breaks the spell, turning his head and running to the car, his heart pounding in terror. What had that man almost done?

He tumbles into the passenger seat next to Mira. "Sorry, I got... held up." He says apologetically. Mira smiles at her son.

"That's fine, honey." Mira starts the car, after checking that Elena, Natalya, and Ivan were in the back seat, and begins the short drive to home.

**This is a page break**

Dinner is extremely awkward, with Katyusha trying to get Natalya to talk to others besides Ivan, and Mira trying to get everyone to talk about their school day. Eventually, she finally gets Vladimir to speak, though only in Romanian.

"I thought it was kinda cool. There were some interesting people, like Emil from Iceland, Toris from Lithuania, Gilbert from Germany," Vlad recites a few people from the transfer class. He doesn't mention Emil's strange brothers, or the eerie event from right after school.

Elena brightens. "Ludwig, Gilbert's little brother, was in my class!" She says excitedly. "He was pretty serious, and Gilbert didn't seem like that at all. I think I like Gil better."

Vladimir nods. "I guess I can see that." He says. "How can brothers be so different?"

After dinner, Vladimir retreats to his room. The letter weighs heavier in his pocket than ever before. _Was I wrong?_ He thinks to himself, sitting on his desk and rubbing his eyes with his hand. _To not tell them about Emil's strangeness? And his alive but dead brothers?_ Vladimir ponders this as he gets ready for bed.

"No," Vlad decides. "But even so, I can't think about it any more. There is an early day tomorrow." Vladimir lays down on his bed, leaving the letter on his night table.

**This is a page break**

"What did you do that for?" Emil shouts at his brother. The other man shrugs.

"He was listening to our conversation."

"You didn't have to try to _kill_ him!" Emil's amethyst eyes are blazing. "You could- you could have just made him forget."

"He is a danger to you, Emil." The navy eyes of the other are narrowed. He believes in what he did, even if Emil thinks it was wrong.

"No, he's not." Emil looks away. "I can't believe you. You are not my brother, Lukas. Not anymore."

The man called Lukas turns, panic showing in his eyes. He starts to move towards Emil. "No, Emil! You don't know what you're doing! _EMIL_!" His final shout fades away as his body crumbles into dust. Emil shows no remorse.

"I'm sorry, Lukas." He turns away.

**A/N Begins Here**

I killed off Norway :D

Don't worry, he'll be back. He's Norway. Magical Nations never stay down for long.

What do you think Toris's paper said? And why is everyone telling Vladimir to stay away from Emil? Will he?

Reviews make me want to write!


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